This Land, Your Land

Pilot Mountain State Park has closed indefinitely because of a large number of trees that have fallen on park roads and trails during recent snow and ice, the state Division of Parks and Recreation has announced.

The park will remain closed to all use, including hiking, until the roadways and trails can be cleared of ice and fallen trees, the state says. Notice of the park's reopening will be placed on the Pilot Mountain State Park page and on the state parks alert page, which over the past several weeks has carried notice of several state park and recreation area closings due to inclement weather.

Pilot Mountain, in Pinnacle north of Winston-Salem, features its namesake peak, which was named a National Natural Landmark in 1976, and is popular for hiking, camping, canoeing, horseback riding, rock climbing and rappelling.

Pilot Mountain closed February 5, when Surry County was hit by a winter storm that brought snow as well as freezing rain, the Mount Airy News said Sunday. "After the snow and ice, high winds arrived Wednesday and blew down trees across the area, causing damage at the park as well. (Ranger Keith) Martin said roads there were blocked by trees, broken branches and limbs, mostly from pines as well as birches."

A five-member state park fire crew from the Raleigh area was assisting Pilot Mountain’s six permanent staff members and some volunteers with clean-up work, the Mount Airy paper said.

If you have kids out of school on Monday and need something worthwhile to keep them occupied, consider the North Carolina Aquariums, where the branches at Fort Fisher and Roanoke Island are waiving admission fees for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Normally, admission to the aquariums is $6 for ages 6 to 17, $8 for adults, $7 for seniors and free for those younger than 6.

The Fort Fisher aquarium is next to the Fort Fisher State Recreation Area and just down the street from the Fort Fisher State Historic Site.

Fort Fisher was a major Civil War fortress, keeping North Carolina's port of Wilmington open to blockade-runners that supplied necessary goods to Confederate armies inland. The historic site presents a state-of-the-art museum and ruins of the fort.

North Carolina State Parks had record attendance in 2009, topping 2008's 12.48 million visits by 13 percent and the record set in 2007 by 5 percent.

The state parks system, which includes 34 state parks, four state recreation areas and a system of state natural areas, had 14.16 million visits in 2009, the Division of Parks and Recreation said in a news release.

Among parks and recreation areas, 22 reported increased attendance in 2009. Jockey’s Ridge State Park in Dare County reported the highest attendance at 1.4 million visits, an increase of 2 percent over last year.

Gorges State Park, which reopened in May with new trails and other features, had 74,803 visits, a 306 percent increase over 2008. Elk Knob State Park, a relatively new park being developed near Boone, had a 21,859 visits, a 264 percent increase for the year.

Several parks did have attendance declines, including Jones Lake State Park, which was down by 17 percent, Haw River, down by 11 percent, and Merchants Millpond State Park, down by 10 percent.

Heavy snow and ice accumulation, and downed trees have caused the state to close Grandfather Mountain State Park "indefinitely," the Division of Parks and Recreation said Tuesday. Mount Mitchell State Park "and some other, high-elevation state park areas in western North Carolina" have also closed because of icy roads.

The Linville area, where Grandfather Mountain is located, experienced snowfall of up to two feet December 18 to 20 followed by a severe ice storm on December 24. Additional snow has fallen sporadically in the past week.

The National Park Service announced the closing of "most sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway" earlier, adding that "due to heavy snowfall along the entire length of the Parkway, travel is not advisable on the recreational road." The Park Info Line at 828-298-0398 provides updated road closure information for the Parkway.

The Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy has bought 1,527 acres in Rutherford County that was once slated to become a subdivision, but instead could eventually become part of Chimney Rock State Park, the Asheville Citizen-Times says.

The land is on Weed Patch Mountain, north of Lake Lure, and was to be part of the 4,000-acre Grey Rock at Lake Lure subdivision, owned by Orlando-based Land Resources. The company filed for bankruptcy last year, the newspaper says

The conservancy paid $2.29 million, or $1,500 per acre, for the land.

Since 1994, Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy has protected more than 18,500 acres in more than 80 projects. The organization works with interested landowners throughout Henderson and Transylvania and parts of neighboring counties, with a focus on Chimney Rock State Park, Dupont State Forest and locally administered parks and nature preserves.

"Chimney Rock, Hanging Rock, Lake James, Mount Jefferson, Mount Mitchell, New River, Pilot Mountain and Stone Mountain state parks are closed due to dangerous weather and road conditions," an alert posted on the state parks' Web site this morning says. "This list may change and will be updated if more closures come into effect. Please contact the park you plan to visit prior to arrival for the latest closing information."

Great Smoky Mountains National Park has temporarily closed several roads. "Weather-related road and facility closures may change throughout the day," the Web site says. "For updated road and weather information please call 865-436-1200."

A foot or more of snow has fallen across Western North Carolina since Friday, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times.

The state Division of Parks and Recreation says the Internet- and call center-based reservations system it implemented last spring and quickly had problems with is ready for 2010.

A news release says more than 1,300 reservations have already been made for 2010 for campsites, picnic shelters and other facilities in North Carolina state parks.

The release says the reservations system will eliminate New Years Day lines at such popular state recreation areas at Kerr, Jordan and Falls lakes, where campers rush to reserve their favorite sites for the year ahead.

The automated system, accessed through individual state parks' pages at the state site, allows reservations to be made up to 11 months in advance at any park. It also has a call center at 877-722-6762 (877-7-CAMP NC) available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. There is a $3 surcharge per night's stay or per reservation.

The reservation system debuted in April and by July the parks system had suspended its use at Jordan, Kerr and Falls lakes, home of the system's most popular campgrounds.

Many parks set aside some campsites for walk-in registration and, regardless, unoccupied campsites and picnic shelters are available on a first come, first served basis if they're not already reserved.

The state Division of Parks and Recreation will conduct a prescribed burn in the Kings Pinnacle area of Crowders Mountain State Park on a day to be chosen between January 4 and 20, a news release says.

Once weather conditions at the Gaston County park permit the burn, it will begin in the late morning and will end by late afternoon. Follow-up operations could last for several days or weeks. All areas on or around the Kings Pinnacle will be closed to the public until considered safe, including the Sparrow Springs Access Area and visitor center, the Pinnacle, Turnback, Fern and Lake trails, the portions of the Crowders Trail west of Sparrow Springs Road and the portions of the Ridgeline Trail north of Pinnacle Road.

Prescribed burns are a resource management tool, the parks system says. Some plant communities and animal species rely on periodic fire for their existence. The burn will also reduce the amount of potential wildfire fuel in an area on Kings Pinnacle with high potential for lightning strikes and wildfires.

The state Division of Parks and Recreation has released sketches of plans for Haw River State Park and extended the public comment period until December 18, a Division news release says. A public meeting outlining the overall concepts of the proposed plan was held October 20.

Haw River, at Brown's Summit north of Greensboro, encompasses 1,334 acres, including the 200-acre campus of The Summit, an environmental education, conference and training center with multiple conference rooms, a dining hall with buffet service for 200 people, cottages and cabins, an outdoor pool, a gymnasium and more.

"Haw River's plan will explore ways that recently acquired land can complement the existing Summit Environmental Education Center and further its mission," the Division says. "Yet, it's important that the new state park have its own identity and traditional recreation opportunities."

The overall sketch shows a visitor center with an adjacent half-mile accessible loop trail, a day use area with two picnic shelters and an open playfield, an accessible boardwalk loop over a wetlands area, a group camping area and a hiking-trail system, and separate trailhead access to a potential segment of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.

The plan for the Summit area suggests renovating the gym to become a 15,000-square-foot environmental education center, adding to the existing youth cabins, an interim day use area, an observatory, an environmental education maze and additional hiking trails.

A state park's master plan is essentially a blueprint for long-term development of facilities and recreation opportunities and a guide for protection of natural resources. Swanson and Associates P.A., a Carrboro-based landscape architecture firm, is developing the plan for Haw River.

Comments can be made to dpr.masterplancomments@ncdenr.gov or mailed to: Haw River State Park Master Planning, N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation, 1615 MSC, Raleigh, NC, 27699.

The Nature Conservancy today announced acquisition of 466 acres at the summit of Little Yellow Mountain in Avery and Mitchell counties that it expects to transfer to the North Carolina State Parks system for inclusion in the recently established Yellow Mountain State Natural Area.

"At 5,504 feet, Little Yellow (seen below) is one of the higher peaks in the Southern Appalachians," the Nature Conservancy says in a news release. "Its protection is a valuable addition to a large corridor of protected land in the Greater Roan Highlands, much of which is classified as nationally significant by the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program. It is also an important acquisition from an aesthetic perspective – it can be seen prominently from other High Country landmarks, including the Appalachian Trail and the Conservancy’s Big Yellow Mountain Preserve."

"Mixed hardwood forests of yellow birch, sugar maple and northern red oak run along its slopes. The rare Carolina saxifrage, with its tiny white flowers, is found there along with other uncommon plant species. At its top, Little Yellow is an open area covered in sedges, grasses and a variety of wildflowers.

"The Little Yellow purchase builds on more than three decades of preservation work in the Greater Roan Highlands, which has resulted in 19,000 acres of protected land in the area."

The Yellow Mountain State Natural Area was to be established with an initial land acquisition of about 850 acres through the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, the state Parks and Recreation Division said in August. "It will be located in two tracts along the Avery-Mitchell county line just west of U.S. 19 and south of Pisgah National Forest."

"A state natural area differs from a state park, in that while both protect important natural resources, a state natural area’s focus is on conservation of sites of special scientific and ecological value," the state's release says. "State natural areas often do not have public facilities, but sometimes support limited recreation activities such as hiking and educational programs."